At the core of Shohei Ohtani’s mindset is a pioneering spirit — a desire to do what no one else has done.

Most people are intimidated by uncharted territory. If something has never been done before, they see risk, uncertainty, and the possibility of failure. Ohtani sees something different. Precisely because no one has done it, he feels drawn to it. He wants to be the first.

When he chose to attend Hanamaki Higashi High School, it wasn’t simply because of its reputation. Although Yusei Kikuchi’s generation had inspired the people of Iwate by finishing runner-up at Koshien, Ohtani later said that if they had actually won a national championship, he might have chosen a different school. What attracted him was not following a completed story, but writing the next one.

The same mindset appeared when he declared his intention to go directly to Major League Baseball out of high school. He was intrigued by the idea of taking a path no one had taken before and discovering how much he could grow by doing so.

For Ohtani, tracing someone else’s footsteps has never been enough. He is motivated by the possibility of carving out his own road. Even when he eventually signed with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, it was the bold idea of becoming a two-way player — something widely considered impossible — that captured his imagination.

Before turning professional, Ohtani said that if two-way play could truly be realized, it would carry enormous value. If he could make it work, others might follow. Opening that path, he believed, could be his role.

To Ohtani, growth is not just about statistics or trophies. It is about testing the limits of his potential — as an athlete and as a human being — and leaving behind a road that did not exist before he walked it.

Source

This quote comes from a Japanese book published in Japan and is not currently available in English.

Opening a Path, Crossing the Ocean: The Real Face of Shohei Ohtani, p.13